EVENTS DiArY

■■April Fool’s Day in England, Gowk’s (Cuckoo’s) Day in Scotland, Poisson d’Avril (April Fish) Day in France.

■■1873: Sergei Rachmaninov, last of the great Russian Romantic composers, was born in Oneg. He later settled in the USA.

■■1875: Edgar Wallace, thriller writer and journalist, was born in London. In his career he wrote more than 170 books, along with plays and hundreds of short stories.

■■1918: The Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps merged to become the Royal Air Force.

■■1924: The first gramophone to change records automatically went on sale.

■■1965: Greater London came into being, comprising the City of London plus 32 metropolitan boroughs.

■■1973: Value Added Tax was introduced in Britain.

■■1974: Re-organisation of local government in England and Wales saw changes to many county names and boundaries.

■■1990: The longest prison riot in British history began at Strangeways, Manchester, and lasted until April 25.

■■ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Rihanna, Drake and Ice Cube led tributes to acclaimed US rapper Nipsey Hussle after he was gunned down in Los Angeles.

■■BIRTHDAYS: Milan Kundera, novelist, 91; Ali MacGraw, actress, 81; Jimmy Cliff, singer, 72; Barry Sonnenfeld, film director, 67; David Gower, broadcaster and former cricketer, 63; Phillip Schofield, above, TV presenter, 58; Chris Evans, DJ/TV presenter, 54; Hannah Spearritt, actress and former singer (S Club 7), 39.

Let us know your community events

Write to What’s On, South Wales Echo, Six Park Street, Cardiff CF10 1XR or email ecletters@walesonline.co.uk including your name, address and daytime contact number. Don’t forget to tell us where and when your event is taking place and what it’s all about.